I've loved Pokémon my whole life and this was the most excited about Pokemon developments since Pokemon go. Whilst there is nothing to hate about the film I couldn't describe it as more than reasonably good and mildly enjoyable where as I was hoping to be blown away throughout. Having said that I'm excited to see where the franchise goes movie wise in the future as it certainly has potential.
Add a Review
-
mossow9216 June 2019While I like Pokemon, I've never been a collector of cards or watcher of the cartoons. Still, the characters are cute and I like the idea of the competitive fights. From the trailer, the movie looked funny and cute, so I wanted to see it. And that's basically what you get from the film. Ryan Reynolds is funny and charming as the title character. The Pokemon are cute and the CGI is well done. Yet, underneath the surface, the plot is nearly nonexistent and the acting is subpar at best. So, is it worth watching? Yes. It's cute and funny. You'll laugh and be visually entertained. But once it's over, you realize you really gained nothing from the time spent watching.
-
charliembaines3 May 2019This was a videogame movie done right! It has humour for both children and adults as well as an intresting storyline that does hold some weight. Great movie 8/10
-
dynu9516 June 2019I give it a 6 just for Ryan Renolds an for pokemons which look very nice. But, overall the movie is very stupid. It is sad they had such a great background and they could't produce a cool movie.
-
mariamakter20023 May 2019This movie is humorous and the visual effects are incredible. Even though some aspects of the movie leave us underwhelmed, it is still a step in the right direction.
-
jtindahouse16 June 2019It's very rare that I ever watch kid's movies any more. I couldn't even tell you what the last one I saw before this was. But 'Pokémon Detective Pikachu' just really interested me for some reason. I'm not even much of a 'Pokémon' fan (I watched it briefly as a kid, but that was about it). I think it was the casting choice of Ryan Reynolds as 'Pikachu' that took my fancy. A really enlightened choice. He has the comedic skills to make anything funny, and ultimately that is the strongest thing this movie has going for it.
I also loved the concept of the story being based around a mystery. I'm a sucker for mysteries in films. Unfortunately the one they chose for this movie didn't really work for me. It just never hooked me in. I didn't absolutely need to know the answer, and that is always the key to a mystery element working in a story.
The other thing that impressed me was how good the animation was. The 'Pokémon' looked absolutely fantastic. I think this is a great movie in the sense that kids are going to have a great time with it, but also the adults that take them along are going to enjoy it more than they might other children's movies. A worthy effort. -
And that's exactly why I enjoyed it but not loved it. It's not really the movie's fault, I just wasn't excited about seeing the Pokemons on screen. Pikachu it's super funny to watch and the voice acting is good. The actors do their part well, even though the characters aren't great in my opinion, it does the job for an adventure like this. The CGI is not bad, but the characters designs are heavily based in the anime and for some of them it works well, but for some others it doesn't. There's no re-design for any of the Pokemons, which I'm sure fans will love, but when you're watching a live action movie, textures need to resemble something real (even if it's a fantasy monster) for the eye to believe in it. With Pikachu it works well because it's hairy, but I really disliked Mewtwo look, even if he looks exactly like in the anime. Anyways, it was fun to watch, and the city's design and atmosphere was really cool. Pretty sure fans will love it. I would have given more if the nostalgia factor was on me, but as it's not the case, I only felt it's good and fun.
-
frodo-534 May 2019We saw this movie at one of the AMC early preview shows on May 2nd, and I'm so glad we did. Why? Because "video game movies" are something that historically were a "wait til it's on TV" type of thing - no real reason to see them on the big screen; they weren't much different than the games they came from. Detective Pikachu, on the other hand, is an actual movie. Yes, it's set in a world where Pokémon actually exist, and this one can talk to both humans and Pokémon (Doctor Doolittle, anyone?), but unlike a "video game movie", the plot isn't just a vehicle for the setting. It's an actual mystery/adventure, with characters you come to care about, both human and not. Twists and surprises and feels. All the parts of a great flick. One thing that surprised me was how I was amazed by the emotions expressed by the Pikachu character - not only did he feel "real" in the movie, his face, ears, body language conveyed emotion clearly and strongly. It's hard to explain, it was kind of like a cross between looking at a child and a puppy... I don't know how they did it, but when Pikachu was saddened, you *felt* it; when happy, you knew it... Finally, I also do have to say that all of us were concerned about the "Deadpool factor" - which turned out to be a non-issue. Ryan Reynolds is a great actor, and like any great actor, you only see and hear the character he's playing - not his past ones. Excellent movie for all ages, even if you're not a Pokémon fan, you'll enjoy it.
-
Azanspy23 July 2019Pokemon Detective Pikachu is the best video game adapted movie ever made. But still it is nothing extraordinary. The film fails to deeply engage with audiences and some of the facts laid in by the plot is too much to understand as I'm not a Pokemon player. The visual effects were very good. There was some really good twists like the powerful Pokemon is not evil but good and some pretty bad predictable ones like the bad guy. The bad guy twist also felt like same as The Wolverine's. The Pikachu was so cute and entertaining. Ryan Reynolds did a very good job there. Justice Smith was just okay. Overall, Pokemon Detective Pikachu is a one time watchable popcorn movie.
-
(Theater impressions--short review) Semi-casual Pokémon fan here--played through a few of the games (never played Detective Pikachu), watched the anime as a kid, but not super invested in the franchise. A lot of people seem to be giving this movie high ratings. Detective Pikachu is not without merit, but the film's good points (namely, Ryan Reynold's performance, some good humor, some nice character interaction and overall high production values) are unfortunately outweighed by its bad points (namely, a needlessly and hopelessly convoluted plot, hit-or-miss performances from the remaining cast, some jokes that didn't land, some heavy-handed dialogue and some poor character interaction, and lack-luster CGI). The film is overall inconsistent in tone; it doesn't seem to really know who it's for or what it wants to be. I had fun watching the film with my friends in the theater (who are also familiar with Pokémon), but if you're unfamiliar with Pokémon or if you're watching it on your own on the small screen it might not quite be an enjoyable experience.
-
jakefellows3 May 2019Being a Pokemon fan for many years I was very hesitant when the trailer first came out and especially with the stigma around video games getting movie adaptions that never work out but in this case THEY DELIVERED!
Ryan Reynolds once again continues to deliver amazing comedy while also tugging at our heartstrings in serious moments.The storyline for the movie was great and Rita Ora was a great adaption to the movie, her part as the scientist was surprising well given the common fact that not many singers can't act but I was pleasantly happy, hoping to see her more.
The movie itself has an amazing storyline that I won't give away, the real life adaptions of the Pokemon are beautiful and it's almost exactly how I'd imagine them if they were in the real world, the effects are amazing!
Go watch this movie! -
ssiyam8 August 2019The best movie adaptation of a video game ever made. Pokémon Detective Pikachu is really enjoyable and fun to watch. Ryan Reynolds is easily the best thing in the whole movie, also the creature designs were pretty amazing and adorable. On the flip side Justice Smith performance as the films primary lead was totally lame, uninteresting, boring and annoying all at the same time, he literally drags on the whole film with his bad performance. Rest of the cast was average at best. This would have been a great movie if the casting was done right. The plot is terrible and the film doesn't have the emotional weight it needed. Otherwise, the visuals and humour is great.
-
Pokemon Detective Pikachu had potential as a concept, but sadly it was poorly executed in my opinion. There's alot of Pokemon nostalgia and fan-service franchise references in there for sure, but the story itself is very weak. You can see where things are heading straight away and it felt very dumbed down for kids rather than aiming for both kids and adults. I was really shocked at how bad the acting was in this movie. It really distracted me from taking the Human characters seriously, and they were easily the worst part of the movie. There are scenes in the movie which try to pull off emotion but it falls flat. There is a very small part of the Pokemon game stuff in there like catching Pokemon and battling them, but it's mostly filler rather than being relevant to the plot.
Detective Pikachu himself fairs a little better, but his quips and little jokey comments get a bit tiring after a while. I wasn't even the biggest fan of the CGI Pokemon honestly, as they just look weird and kind of creepy rather than cute. They should have just gone for the Who Framed Roger Rabbit approach and made them Cartoon animated instead of realistic. Plot contrivances and weird things happening for no logical reason, as well as scenes which were surprisingly boring. I kind of liked the idea of Pokemon and Humans living together, and the small snippets we see of them do jobs for people and other tasks in the background is a nice touch, but that only really appears in the first half of the movie and then it just becomes bland and generic. The showdown near the end has some okay action to it, but to me it just felt like this should have been much, much better than what we ended up with in terms of twists and turns.
As a big Pokemon fan, I was disappointed with this movie. I felt it should have been structured better in the story and making it more interesting rather than focusing on showing off the Pokemon stuff and references. They needed to make the Human characters more entertaining rather than just the Pokemon themselves. Seeing my favourite Pokemon in CGI Live Action and noticing a reference to the games isn't enough for me. This is a sloppy, executed movie that could have been so much more and seems to coast on nostalgia and callbacks. I have no idea how someone who never cared for Pokemon could get into this, but if you're a Pokemon fan I'd say it's probably worth at least one watch. As for me, I'm still hoping for a genuinely good Video Game movie that will break the curse, but Detective Pikachu isn't the answer to that sadly.
4/10 -
The animations were great. Story was not at all good. Don't know why Mewtwo wants to find the kid. Fantasy was little bit over (villains idea). Pikachu's voice was great but there should be real voices of Pikachu in some of the scenes, thought it would make it better. Feel good movie
-
ssiyam8 August 2019The best movie adaptation of a video game ever made. Pokémon
Detective Pikachu is a really enjoyable and fun movie to watch.
Ryan Reynolds is easily the best thing in the movie and the
creature designs was amazing and quite adorable.
On the flip side Justice Smith's performance as the film's lead
was lame and uninteresting and he really drags on the whole
movie with his bad performance. Rest of the casts performance
were average. This would've been a great movie if the cast
was right. Otherwise, the visuals are great and the
plot is good. -
I am not saying the movie is great. Far from it. Its full of flaws. But its fun and nostalgic.
I watched it at a moment when I was sad and terrified and alone. I put it on and felt better at then end. That's it. It did its job. And sometimes that's enough. -
octubre198725 July 2019Pokémon Detective Pikachu is the best video game movie ever. Sadly for all of us, that's an amazingly low bar to jump.
Ryan Reynolds' performance is surprisingly good (not amazing, but more than I expected), the high production value shows all the time. The CGI is good at places. But that's about it.
The premise is interesting but the plot and script are horrible, full of plot-holes and extremely awkward dialogue. The main actors are average at best and I'm giving them extra points because sincerely they couldn't do much better with the terrible script the writers gave them.
The tone of the movie is constantly shifting, from kids movie to detective pseudo-noir to action flick to comedy... it really doesn't know what it wants to be.
To sum it up all in one line, the move isn't *bad*, it's just all over the place. I think 10 minutes more of runtime and a tighter edition could improve the quality a lot.
At the end of the day and despite my hard critic I'm happy this movie exist. Not because it's good (if you didn't notice so far, it's not) but because I sincerely believe the next ones will be better. I have high hopes the writers will decode what went wrong and will give us a better movie from the sequel onwards. But most importantly, I'm excited to see Hollywood making more gaming movies, this time taking note of what worked and what not and acting accordingly. -
ZidaneA9 May 2019I'm not really a fan of CGI heavy action-flicks like this (Marvel etc), but I wanted to watch this movie for the pure nostalgia. As a kid I used to fantasize about a well made live action Pokémon movie and I thought it was never going to be made, so I entered the cinema trying to go back to the head-space of 10-year~ old me. and boy was I surprised! What I wanted most out of this movie was to see an overabundance of Pokémon everywhere just fighting and doing Pokémon-stuff. And this is exactly what this movie did. I think they re-used the same Pokémons and even models a bit too much but that's a very minor critique. This movie stayed true to the Pokémon franchise very few (if any) other video game adaptations has done. I do have to note that it feels like a huge homage to everyone who grew up with Pokémon, and I'm not sure how the younger generation would think of it. But I sure hope they keep doing them.
The biggest downfall of this movie was honestly the story and plot. I didn't really care for it at all and sometimes during the more plot-heavy moments I got a bit bored while waiting for the next "Pokémon-thing" to happen. I'm still giving it a 10/10 just for surprising the **** out of me! Woho! -
olegasbox27 July 2019Unfortunately only for fans of the game Pokemon. It is the games, and the animated series. Very beautiful film, gorgeous animation of the chief detective :) It's nice to see Pokemon on the big screen. It is a pity only there was no normal disclosure of the world itself in which everything is happening. Pleased with the ending, namely one person. Overall by 6
-
kang869015 May 2019As much as I am a pokemon fan, this movie kind of sucked. I mean I didn't expect much seeing the plot similar to any other pokemon animated movies, but the plot was a bit extra boring. I guess the only upside is the pokemon looked kind of cute? but other than that the storyline sucked, the graphics and effects were soso
-
My god, this movie was excellent. I love everything about this movie. Justice Smith delivers a great serious performance as Tim Goodman, while Ryan Reynolds delivers a very good comedic performance. If anyone who's wondering about if he's acting like deadpool in this. He's not. There's a lighter and softer tone than what he says in the Deadpool movies. I won't give anything away because there are to many surprises. Espically for Pokemon Fans. Pikachu interactions with other Pokemon were a treat. The VFX are so Spectacular, that it feels like the Pokemon are real along with the world-building. The Film is for everyone, but it will be an extra TREAT for the Pokemon fans.
-
Top_Dawg_Critic21 July 2019Ryan Reynolds nailed his role and as usual was hilarious. Outstanding V/SFX and a decent story made this film enjoyable. A little too long at almost 2 hours, but still fun. It's a 7/10 from me
-
abbeley21 May 2019My personal opinion if this movie is that it is worth watching, but when it comes on t.v., not in the theater. The visual aspects of this movie were amazing and seeing some of the most iconic Pokémon brought to life was even more fantastic but unfortunately, that's where my positive review ends. If you are looking for a Pokémon movie small children can enjoy, this may be a great movie for you. But if you were excited about seeing the Pokémon of your childhood come to life in an epic story.... you may need to keep looking. The feel of this movie was very reminiscent of a regular episode of Power Rangers. With the trailers highlighting the humor of Ryan Reynolds as Pikachu, I really expected a movie that would be fun for kids but funny and filled with memorable throwbacks for adults. The only throwbacks were the actual Pokémon and the only funny stuff was already shown in the trailers. The actors weren't great but that didn't really impact my opinion in this case. All in all it had immense potential and I hope they try again with another Pokémon movie in the future.
-
elhamfirmino11 May 2019Before I start whether you like Pokémon or not. This movie is so funny when Pikachu starts to talk. I laughed so much. Pikachu'sanimation looks cute and realistic. I grew up with Pokémon and still love Pokémon games even the new games. I can tell you just watch the trailer every Pokémon in the movie looks so good. They really put a lot of love in detail.
The storyline is simple Tim and Pikachu investigate the case of Tim's dad. On their journey they find out evidence and get in trouble. It's so hilarious, but not chaotic and it's not forced. I was afraid that they'd mess up the story but they did very well. I enjoyed the movie from the start to the end. The movie focuses on the relationship between Pikachu and Tim. Through the movie I somehow knew what happens at the end. I won't tell you for sure. To all doubters give it a try you won't get out disappointed. You'll have fun and go out happy. Me and my friends we had such a great time during the movie. I think the challenge for the movie was to build up a clear decent story.
The only critic I have is that I had to watch it in 3D I'm not a fan of 3D. There was just a few 3D effects. I'm going to buy it for blu Ray definitely. I will enjoy it even more in 2D. -
eddie_baggins9 May 2019Colour me surprised, for against all the odds and pre-conceived perceptions, Pokémon Detective Pikachu is one of the straight up most enjoyable video game adaptations of all time and a sure-fire delight to long-time fans the world over.
Not exactly competing against a raft of quality content when it comes to video games being bought to life on the big screen, Rob Letterman's film just gets it, it doesn't break any new ground or achieve much in a narrative sense but by creatively and vividly bringing the wonderful and imaginative universe of Pokémon into the real world (or made up world in the case of its Tokyo/London inspired Ryme City), Detective Pikachu is an absolute child-like delight for any fans of the series, both young and old.
In some ways it feels like the films biggest weakness, outside of a fairly daft villain plot and some so-so storytelling around that, in the sense that you can't help but feel as though Detective Pikachu will leave those with very little Pokémon association quite cold with its many throwbacks, scenarios and even music stemming straight from the Pokémon games or famous TV shows, meaning this is first and foremost a film for fans, even if casual to non-following fans of the brand would enjoy the visual delights on display.
Central to the film's success as an entertaining offering is Letterman and his team's heartfelt bringing to life of Pokémon's wild collection of crazy critters, led by the ever popular and seriously cute new imagining of everyone's favourite (rat?) Pokémon, the yellow fur ball that is Pikachu.
Here voiced by Ryan Reynolds, in what ends up being an inspired choice of voice casting, with Reynolds bringing his wild energy and ad-libbing to the table with full force, Pikachu is the this films MVP (even if a particularly worried Psyduck and an intense Mr. Mime come close to stealing the spotlight).
Teaming up with Justice Smith's blue collar insurance worker Tim Goodman to help solve the mystery of his missing father, Pikachu is a great CGI creation that faithfully and energetically brings the well-known pop culture figure to life and whenever Pikachu is sharing the screen time or front and centre to proceedings, Detective Pikachu is a breezy, fun and often exciting ride that overcomes its plot weaknesses with relative ease.
Detective Pikachu also offers up fans many a great moment, with fans likely to go wild for the many side gags (Pokémon card collections, Pokémon posters), Pokémon character cameos and wink wink nudge nudge moments that litter the film from start to finish, making this fan service of the highest order, that tells us Detective Pikachu was made by fans for fans, a rare feat when it comes to such intellectual property as this.
Final Say -
One of 2019's genuinely nice surprises, Pokémon Detective Pikachu wonderfully brings to life a beloved property, that while aimed more directly at old fans rather than casual cinemagoers, provides a wonderfully enjoyable and colour-filled trip regardless.
3 ½ staplers out of 5